Preview: Boys Lacrosse Set to Face West Islip in L.I. Championship

Farmingdale vs. West Islip in the Long Island Class A boys lacrosse championship. Seems like we've been down this road before.

We have, just last year when West Islip routed the Dalers, 13-1, en route to their . Farmingdale has bounced back, going 14-4 this season and for the Nassau title.

2011 has gone well for the Lions, as they've gone 19-0 and 12-11 in OT for their 8th straight Suffolk title and their 40th straight victory.

Farmingdale coach Bob Hartranft says he expects a high-scoring game, and says the Dalers have to attack right out of the gate to avoid a repeat of last year's drubbing.

"Last year we couldn't get the ball by their goalie [Kyle Turri]," Hartranft said. "Hopefully this year we'll have a little more success, we're a year older now, hopefully this time we'll get some balls by him."

Getting anything past Turri is tough. The West Islip senior is Duke-bound, but the Dalers will rely on their three-headed attack of Korey Hendrickson, Brian Prendergast and Sal Tuttle to pace the offense. The trio combined for 11 goals in the win over Massapequa.

West Islip coach Scott Craig agrees that there will be plenty of goals.

"I think both teams have the ability to score, Farmingdale shoots the ball a lot, I'm not sure it will be as much a shootout as it was with Massapequa, but I think we're talking around the double-digit mark, 10 or 11 goals to win the game," Craig said.

Craig will look to Drew Federico to lead the Lions attack, with Nick Aponte, Conor Braddish and Mike Sagl contributing from the midfield. He also says ball control will be a deciding factor.

"Whichever team is effective in the faceoff circle, and then once they have the ball, controls the ball, and not a lot of careless turnovers," Craig said.

Hartranft also feels winning the faceoff will be key, and will rely on Patrick Starke and John Ragno to get the job done in the circle. Defensively, Farmingdale will look to contain Federico and the Islip middies, but not at the expense at leaving Sagl open for easy looks. And of course, Daler senior goalie Mike Palmer needs to have a better game than he did against Massapequa.

Craig says it took a little while for his club to recover from the heart-stopping win against Smithtown, but that the Lions are now focused and ready to defend their crown, while maintaining a healthy level of respect for the Dalers.

"You're always going to get a street fight [from Farmingdale]," Craig said. "They're scrappy as hell and they're going to work their butts off for 48 minutes, play very physical lacrosse and you've got to buckle up and be ready to play."

"We're taking it one game at a time," Hartranft said he told his club when the playoffs began. "Don't look past anybody, we've got goals we've set and accomplished two of them so far ... you start looking forward, you get in trouble."